The IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee, which met at the
organisation’s HQ in London last month, has formally adopted the new amendments to its Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) regulations
and will require mandatory reporting of all containers lost at sea and the
amendment was welcomed by liner shipping lobby group the World Shipping Council
(WSC).
VP of safety & security Lars Kjaer said: “The new regulations, specifically amending
Solas Chapter V Regulations 31 and 32, mark a significant advancement in
maritime safety and environmental protection.
“By ensuring prompt and detailed reporting of lost and
drifting containers, these amendments will enhance navigational safety, facilitate
swift response actions and mitigate potential environmental hazards.”
Solas Regulation 31 now states that the master of a ship involved in the loss
of containers must immediately and thoroughly report specific details to nearby
ships, the nearest coastal state and the vessel’s flag state. The flag
state will then pass this information to the IMO via a new module in the Global
Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS); and masters of ships that
observe drifting containers must report that to nearby ships and the nearest
coastal state.
Meanwhile, Regulation 32 covers the way details must
be reported and now states that for containers lost at sea reports must be made
as soon as possible, with updates as more information becomes available. A
final count of lost containers must be confirmed after a thorough inspection
and mandatory details must include the position of the lost containers, the
number lost and if any contained dangerous goods. Additional descriptive info
is required if possible; and vessel captains are also encouraged to share
voluntary details about the cargo, sea conditions, and more.
The WSC has been collecting data on the number of
boxes lost overboard annualy, which revealed that every year between 2008 and
2022, an average of 1,566 were lost. However,
there are considerable variations each year. In 2022, the WSC calculated
that just 661 boxes had been lost, while in 2013 it was nearly 6,000 – largely
due to the sinking of the MOL Comfort, which saw 4,293
containers lost, and the grounding of the MSC Rena, which lost 900
boxes.
“The changes to
Solas now put in place show the IMO’s commitment to improving maritime safety
and environmental stewardship,” it said. “By
mandating detailed and timely reporting, as the WSC has been advocating, the
maritime community can better tackle the challenges of lost containers,
ensuring safer navigation and protecting our oceans.”